COP27 Video of the Week: “Mountains Connect: Collaboration and Partnerships Across Mountain Ranges” with Buddi Sagar Poudel, Harald Egerer, Yesica Fonseca, Helmut Hojesky, and Ladislaus Leonidas

The world’s mountain regions are all facing similar challenges in terms of accelerated climate change and impacts. Building on the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development 2022 and the Mountains Connect workshop, this event at COP27 emphasized the importance of regional and interregional collaboration for sustainable mountain development. Representatives from the Alps, Andes, Caucasus, Carpathians, East Africa, and Hindu Kush Himalaya used this space to exchange knowledge on climate change adaptation and regional governance in mountain regions. They provided insight on how to shift the understanding of mountain realities from the periphery towards the center of global climate and environmental discourse. This event was supported by the Adaptation at Altitude programme, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and jointly hosted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Udayan Mishra, ICIMOD, provided welcoming remarks. Presenters included Alenka Smerkolj, Secretary General, Alpine Convention; Babar Khan, ICIMOD; and Sabine McCallum, UNEP. Babar Khan moderated the remainder of the event, with high-level panelists including Buddi Sagar Poudel, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal; Harald Egerer, Secretary General, Carpathian Convention; Yesica Fonseca, Andean Mountain Initiative, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peru; Ambassador Helmut Hojesky, Chair of the Alpine Climate Board of the Alpine Convention, Austria; and Eng. Ladislaus Leonidas, East African Community (EAC). Deepshikha Sharma, ICIMOD, and Ansgar Fellendorf, UNEP, provided closing remarks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh5TAasCdEw